Elastic thread and fabric made therefrom



July 26, 1932. F. L. BRIGHAM ELASTIC THREAD AND FABRIC MADE THEREFROMFiled Deo. 16, 1930 Patented 'July 26, 1932 UNITED STATES FREDERICK L.BBIGHAM, Ol' UPPER HONTCLAIB, NEW JERSEY ELASTIC THREAD .AND FABBI MADETHEREFROM Application led December 16, 1930. Serial No. 502,647.

l ries as will be understood non-elastic knitting threads are passedabout the elastic thread and interlaced with each other, the elasticthread extending lengthwise of the fabric and imparting to the fabricthe desired elasticity. In the knitting operation, as above pointed out,the knitting threads are passed about the elastic thread and interlacedwith each other, these elastic threads heretoforev consisting o f arubber core thread covered with one or more helically applied coveringsor wraps of silk or other suitable fibrous material wrapped about thesame. Consequently in a finished elastic fabric it will be appreciatedthat the core of the elastic thread simply lies in channels provided bythe coverings of the core thread and that the entire thread in turnsimply lies 'in channels provided by the knitting threads.

It has been found in knitted elastic fabrics, therefore, as heretoforeconstructed that the elastic thread soon v pulls. back through thefabric when the fabric is put to use thereby impairing the elasticityand strength of the fabric. the elastic thread imparting the entireresiliency or elasticity to the fabric.

It has been found also that when the elastic fabric is stitched or sewnto a piece of other material care must be exercised that the needle doesnot cut the core threads of the elastic threads, thereby permitting thecore thread to pull out of its covering, thus, as will be appreciated,impairing the strengh and elasticity of the fabric. The pulling back ofthe elasticthreads through the channels provided by the knitting threadsalso strips the coverings from the elastic thread, exposing the corethread to view and thereby effecting the appearance of the fabric.

Another point that must 'be considered in 55 connection with this priorpractice is that in order that the elastic threads may not be cutthrough when attaching a piece of elastic fabric to a non-elastic, forinstance, an attempt is made to skip the elastic threads and 00 thismeans that fairly long or coarse stitches must be used resulting in aWeak j oint.` y

The objections above enumerated are all overcome by the presentinvention, my invention providing a construction in elastic 65 threadswhereby when the thread is incor orated in a knitted elastic fabric inwhich knitting threads are passed about the elastic thread andinterlaced with' each other the elastic fabric maybe at- 70 tached to aiece of non-elastic, for instance, by sewlng not only through theknitting threads as done heretofore but through the elastic thread aswell. This, it will be apparent, enables a strong and neat join to 75 bemade between the elastic fabric and nonelastic, insures that the elasticthread will remain in place throughout the life of the fabric and thatthere can be no pulling back of the elastic thread through B0 thechannels of the knitting threads to destroy the elasticity of the fabricnor to strip the covering from the core thread of the elastic thread,thereby exposing the core thread to view and destroying the appear- 8ance-of the fabric as a wole.

In view of the fact that I am able by the use of my improved thread tostitch the elastic threads in place it will be appreciated as 9 abovepointed out that the join between a piece of my fabric and a piece ofnon-elastic, forinstance, will be of maximum strength.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a thread 95 constructed in accordancewith my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in plan on an enlarged scale of a knitted elasticfabric embodying my invention; l

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; 100

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Fig. t is a view similar to Fig. l of a modified form of my invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail and first of all to Fig. 1, myimproved thread comprises one or more elastic core threads A which maybe the same type of material heretofore employed in elastic thread.`With this elastic extended to any desired degree, depending upon thevdegree of elasticity desired in a fabric employing my thread, l applyto the elastic or rubber A a covering B of fibrous material such assillr, cotton or other suitable material. This covering is wrappedhelically about the elastic A. in a fairly long pitch (somewhatexaggerated in the drawing) so as to leave an appreciable space betweenthe adjacent leads thereof.

lt next braid an outer covering E about the thread. 'llhis may be donein a continuous operation, or at any convenient time after theapplication of covering B, it being underu stood, however, that whenbraiding the covering lll in place the elastic .tt is under tension, sothat the leads of the covering B will be spaced appreciably as abovementioned.

l find that in applying the covering E the wraps or leads of the innercovering B impart somewhat of a corrugated surface to the otherwisesmooth exterior of the elastic thread A to prevent slipping of thebraided covering with respect to theinner covering B; l find also thatthe leads of the inner covering B as the outer covering is appliedbecome pressed intothe surface of the rubber or elastic A and that thecovering E is pinched between the leads of the covering B when thetension in the core thread is released, so that not only is the braidedcovering held against slipping with respect to the inner covering B butthe inner covering is held against slipping with ,respect to theelasticl d., and the elastic held against slip'- ping with respect tothe covering B.

lin other words, instead of merely two tubes or channels about theelastic, as would be the case if two covers were merely Y wrapped aboutthe elastic A, `as under present practice, f have in ehect produced astructure the various elements of which are so bound to each other as tobe considered a onepiece thread. As a matter of fact, this result is sopronounced that removal of the cover y, ings B and E from the elastic orthe withdrawal of the elastic is very difficult-even when deliberatelyattempted.

llt will be appreciated from all of the foregoing that when a piece ofmy improved fab ric is to be sewn to a nonelastic fabric, for instance,thejoin can be made with much hner stitches than heretofore employedinasmuch as by reason of the improved coverings applied to the core ofmy improved thread the rubber threadsl may be sewn through withoutdanger of the core thread slipping back through the fabric or throughits covering.

llt will be appreciated also that by reason of this fact and by reasonof the fact that the rubber core threads are stitched in place theelastic thread cannot slip back through the fabric so that the fullstrength of the fabric is maintained throughout the life thereof. Notonly, therefore, is knitted elastic fabric constructed in accordancewith this invention stronger than knitted elastic fabrics as heretoforemade, but a join made by using my improved fabric will present a muchneat/er appearance than heretofore possible and the original elasticityof the fabric be available throughout the life of the fabric, asdistinguished from prior structures where, as above noted, the elasticthreads pull back through the fabric and hence impair its elasticity anditsusefulness.

ln Figs. 2 and 3 l show my elastic fabric which l have designated G sewnto a nonelastic fabric designated ll, the stitches employed vin the joinbeing designated d. The knitting threads of these figures of the drawingare designated F and as will be appreciated are passed about the elasticthread of the fabric and interlaced with each other.

While the foregoing description points out the advantages of my improvedthread when used in lmitted elastic fabrics it is to be understood thatthe thread also is useful as a warp thread in the woven fabric field aswell, where trouble has been experienced with the rubbers of the threadsworking out of their coverings, a possibility which has been reduced toa minimum by my improved construction.

While l' have shown my improved thread as provided with a singlecovering B immediately about the rubber A, it is to be understood thatmore than one covering may be employed, if desired, so longe-,s theleads of the coverings are maintained suciently spaced to produce theeffect above described in connection with maintaining the braidedcovering in place. a

ln lfig. l the elastic or rubber Af is provided with two coverings B offibrous material such as silk, cotton or other suitable material, thesecoverings being wrapped helically in opposite directions about theelastic A. in a fairly long pitch. As in the case of l'ig. l ll thenbraid an outer covering E about the thread so prepared.

l. As an article of manufacture a thread comprising an extensible core,a helical covering about said core throughout its entire length, and anouter covering braided over the said core and helical covering.

2. As an article of manufacture a thread comprising an extensible core,a helical fibrous covering for said core so applied as to preserve theelasticity of said core the till llt

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leads of said covering being disposed in spaced relation,'and a coveringbraided over4 the helical covering and core.

3. As an article of manufacture a thread 5, comprising an extensiblecore, a fibrous helical covering about the core throughout 'the lengththereof, and a braided covering immediately about the helical coveringand engaging both the core and helical covering.

w 4. A knitted elastic fabric comprising knitting threads passed aboutextensible threads' and interlaced with each other, the extensiblethreads comprising an elastic core, a brous covering helically appliedimmediately about the core throughout its length and a braided coveringimmediately about the helical covering and engaged by the Imittingthreads.

5. In the making of extensible thread, the

methodwhich comprises helically wrapping a covering of fibrous materialabout an elastic core thread throughout its. length while the corethread is extended, the said wrapping being so applied as to space theleads thereof from. each other and thereafter braiding a covering aboutthe Yfirst mentioned covering and the core thread with the core threadextended.

6. As an article of manufacture a thread comprising an elastic core, ahelical fibrous covering so applied thereto as to preserve theelasticity of said core, and a fibrous covering braided directly aboutthe first mentioned covering, the first covering being sc applied as tospace the adjacent leads, some of the material of the second coveringbeing gripped between such leads to maintain the braided covering inplace.

This specification signed this 15th day of December, 1930.

FREDERICK L. BRIGHAM.

